in the future
by lionessladyknight
Summary: Bella lives in a world where your future is controlled by government tests. Her life is set out before her, but when she meets a certain boy named Edward everything changes. AH/AU.
1. prologue

prologue.

I've been told that this is a natural thing, not something I should be afraid of or hate myself for. That, perhaps, this whole mess is not my fault.

But then again, I've been blamed countless times for what happened; insults thrown at me on the streets, articles all over the internet, heaping piles of hate mail outside my door. It's all out there for the world to see: private information about me, my life, and my whereabouts. Personal things that before the accident I hadn't told a soul, except Edward, of course.

My grandmother Sadie remains to be the only person who has truly stuck with me throughout all of this. And Edward, but he can only come in later in my story.

Today I go on trial in front of the whole world, everyone with their eyes trained on me. For someone who has never liked the spotlight, this ought to be more than terrifying. I ought to be incredibly nervous, with my stomach all in knots, my palms all sweaty, and all that. Perhaps I'm not all that I ought to be because I know, deep down inside of me that I am the right person in this case. That I can blame myself all that I want to, but there was nothing I could do. You could probably go so far as to call it fate. It's almost comical, if you pause to think about it: young girl from small town brings down the most corrupt regime in history all because of love. It sounds like a title from a comic book about super heroes, or something. But you must understand that I am truly an ordinary girl, currently of eighteen. Yes, you've probably read other books in which heroines start off by saying this as well, but I promise you this: it could've happened to anyone. Just keep reading, and you'll see.


	2. chapter 1: the beginning

hey guys! here's my new story – I hope you like it! the beginning is probably a bit confusing but hopefully everything will clear up once we get further in. it is an AU/AH story which will later involve some bella/edward romance. if you have any questions, please ask!

chapter 1: the beginning.

To truly start at the beginning, we must start at my birth, which happened to be on February 14, 2004. It's the anniversary of this old holiday known as Valentine's Day, something that hasn't been celebrated in about a century. From the little information I was able to gather about it, it celebrated love. Which, given recent events, is m ore fitting than anyone could've predicted.

At any rate, it was a normal birth, as far as those things go. The usual series of tests was completed, determining if I was going to be smart or not, what I would do when I grew up, where I would live, if I was to be pretty or not, who I was my 'soulmate', etc. You know, the usual gamut. They all ran normally, with no indications that I would break every single one of them later on.

This information is kept top-secret. There are serious consequences for parents who reveal the truth to their children at too young an age. It must be awfully hard to do so, but I wouldn't know since I'm not a parent (and don't intend on becoming one for quite some time).

Growing up, everyone looks forward to the day when their parents sit them down and have 'the talk.' This occurs at a government-approved time, deeming the child ready to learn about the rest of their lives. One of my friends, Lauren, had hers when she was eight. We all questioned her incessantly about it, naturally, but she wasn't allowed to say anything. Afterwards, Lauren didn't seem to be all that different. She was more grown up, and serene, as though she knew at that age that playing with dolls or running on the playground at recess was beyond her. She had always been quiet, so we didn't think much of it. We just drifted apart naturally. As more and more of my friends had theirs, they all transformed in a certain way. Angela lost all of her friends and hung out solely with her boyfriend, Ben, because they had just found out that they were soulmates. So that change made sense, even if others didn't.

Alice and I had been best friends for our entire lives, sticking by each other after everyone else had disappeared. As the time wore on, we became more nervous and less excited for our 'talk', vowing not to abandon each other when it happened. But that didn't stop us from speculating what our future held for us, a habit we had gotten into many years before. Hers was usually the same: her soulmate would be Jasper, the quiet, studious guy in our class who never spoke much; she would continue to live here in Forks, Washington for the rest of her life and teach at this school. I never told her this, but it all seemed horribly boring and too typical for me. Mine always varied, switching from teacher to doctor to government official to writer; from here in Iowa to China to England to Australia and back again. One thing always stayed the same: the fact that none of the boys in our town had caught my eye. I didn't want to live with any of them for the rest of my life. Because of this dread, I often tried to persuade my parents to let us move, and when they refused, I knew it could only be for one reason: he was here.

I tried not to think of it much. Alice had her talk, and became strangely mysterious after that. We were still good friends, yes, but there was a barrier between us. The knowledge of what was to come is a powerful tool, and I guess she was inclined to be around people who shared that power; others, not me. I was only thankful that her personality had stayed the same: the same bubbly girl with the jet black straight hair I had known since infancy remained. I figured things would improve once I received this knowledge, so I spent most of my time to myself, hoping beyond hope that each new day would bring my parents to knock on my door with the news that the time had come.

Of course, when the time did come, it wasn't nearly as great as I had expected. I was fifteen then, sitting on the steps to our picture perfect white house trying to concentrate enough to finish my homework. My mother called out to me gently, asking me to come into the dining room where my dad was already seated at the head of the table. At that instant, I knew. I distinctly remember being a combination of nervous beyond belief and excited. It's a strange feeling, knowing that within the next few minutes you will know exactly how the rest of your life will go. I perched anxiously on the edge of my chair, trying to breathe normally.

"Sweet pea, we have to talk." These were the first few words out of my father's mouth; the solemnity behind them doing nothing to ease my apprehension.

"Yes, daddy?"

He fumbled a bit with his words, looking incredibly uncomfortable as though he didn't quite know how to break the news to me. "Well, uh, you… well. Honey? Would you rather tell her?" He broke off, looking at my mom pleadingly. By this point, I had skipped nerves and headed straight to terror. I had never seen him like this; as a professor in English at the local college, he was always crisp and concise with his words.

"We might as well tell her straight. It's not like it's really that bad. You have nothing to worry about, sugar." She tried to comfort me, but at this point it was quite futile. Noticing that I was still looking a bit green, she heaved a sigh and opened her mouth to speak.

"You are going to be a nurse at the hospital here. In Forks. You will be beautiful and incredibly intelligent and everyone will love you for it. But you will marry Adam Johnson, your soulmate."

When she was done with this speech, I remember not feeling anything in particular. After waiting for this moment for so many years, I didn't know how to react. In my many dreams about this, I had never planned for this situation. In my head, I always was able to go overseas and accomplish something fabulous. True, Forks was small and boring and I was now going to be stuck here for the rest of my life, but nursing didn't seem to be incredibly awful. Plus, I had time to travel before settling down, right? I tried consoling myself. I knew almost nothing about Adam Johnson except that he had recently come back from an early stint in college (he was a genius) and he was extremely quiet and like to keep to himself.

I looked up to see my parents focusing in on me intently.

"Sweet pea, we scheduled a meeting for you and Adam at 4:00. Which gives you about an hour to get ready, alright? I'll come upstairs and help pick out something nice for you to wear." This from my mother, who said it all softly and tentatively as though she was afraid of how I might answer.

I felt nothing. Literally. It was as though I had gone completely numb. So I answered the best I could:

"Alright mom."

I followed her out of the room, but before I got very far my dad scooped me up into a hug.

"I'm so sorry sweet pea. You deserved better than this."

I was shocked. He knew the rules. Everybody did. The tests weren't something to be questioned. They were never wrong. And, worst of all, they were never less than anyone deserved. Everyone knew that you were put in a position based on your merit. So if I was stuck here, despite the fact that I was the smartest girl in the class and apparently was to become the prettiest, it meant that I was severely lacking in other categories. It didn't mean that I deserved better.

"But – Dad!" I protested, looking him in shock. "That's treasonous!"

"I'm sorry sweet pea. It's just how I feel. Don't tell your mother I said that, okay?"

I nodded mutely, knowing that would be disastrous, seeing as she works in the government. I then turned around and went up to my room, taking deep breathes all the way and praying that everything would be okay in the end.


	3. chapter 2: the meeting

sorry about the shortness, everybody! I promise the chapters will get longer once the story gets going. a few more chapters of background information will follow but around 5 or 6 or so the action and exciting stuff will begin reviews are appreciated!

chapter 2: the meeting.

After an hour of pure torture, in which my mother forced my unruly mop of curls into some vague form of submission and got me into a pink ruffly thing that was not me at all, I was on my way to the town square, where this meeting was supposed to take place. I found this comical if anything: if we were soulmates and destined to be together for the rest of our lives, what did it matter what I looked like now? But I put up with it with not one sound of protest escaping my lips. I figured that it was best not to get in the way of my mom when she was in her element; interference wouldn't have helped anyway. Besides, it gave me time to mentally prepare myself for what was to come.

I got out of the car, smiling reassuringly at my mother. I turned and began my walk up to the gazebo in the middle, curls bouncing with every step. Sure, I wasn't excited in the least to begin the rest of my life. But at least I could escape from my parents, which would be welcome at this point. I couldn't stand my mother's eyes shining with the anticipation of what was to come for my future and my dad's eyes staring at me incessantly with what I could best describe as a mixture of pity and regret.

Despite the muddled state of my thoughts, I had remembered to set a novel in my purse to help pass the time while I waited for Adam (my mom had insisted on being there twenty-two minutes early for some unknown reason). I was currently in the middle of _Gone With the Wind_, a book written right before the start of the New Order, and therefore largely frowned upon. I didn't particularly care, because I had a passion for reading and a tendency to go through books faster than they could be replenished (the librarians were very strict hereabouts, so my dad lent me some from his private collection to pass the time). As soon as I opened the book, my heartbeat slowed and my breathing became normal. I allowed myself to relax completely and fall into the plot, effectively blocking the events of the rest of the afternoon out of my head.

It came as a shock when a pair of feet showed up in my periphery. I looked up, startled, to see a guy who I presumed to be Adam. He was as completely unexciting and normal-looking as anyone could be: starched button down shirt, conservative dark gray jacket, khaki pants, muddy brown eyes, fair skin, a load of freckles, and perfectly combed dark brown hair.

As I was taking all of this in, he was studying me as well. After a while I stopped focusing on his appearance and started wondering what his impression of me was and fervently hoping that it was favorable. As for him, I felt rather neutral. He was far from being repulsive, so that was a plus. The only word that came to mind to describe him, however, was 'boring.' I sat there in silence, contemplating this further. Perhaps he would turn out to be fascinating once I got to know him better, something I would have the rest of my life to do. But even being thinking of him in this fashion became so incredibly boring, that I decided that if he wasn't going to speak up I might as well.

"Hello there," I said, timidly sticking my hand out for him to shake.

"Hello," he responded, in a bland tone that only further proved my theory of his utter boringness.

"My name is Isabella Swan, but you can call me Bella if you like. All my friends do."

"Hi Isabella." This was going from bad to worse – I took his refusal to call me by my preferred name to be a personal insult and an indication that he didn't particularly care for me. "I'm Adam Johnson, as I suspect you already know that much about me."

I gave a wry smile in response, motioning for him to join me on my bench. He did, looking curiously over at my book.

"What are you reading?"

At this, he got a genuine smile. The mere mention of books could put me at ease.

"_Gone With the Wind_," I said, holding it up for inspection.

"But that's on the list of books that are forbidden! You can't read that unless you have special permission from the government!"

"Oh!" I replied, not sure what to say. I suppose I ought to have been expecting this, but I mean really. Who knows all of the books on that list? There are literally millions of them. And technically this one was only 'mildly forbidden' and as such, the maximum penalty for reading it was a night in jail with no mention on your permanent record. No one particularly cared here in Forks, so I had assumed he wouldn't either.

"I'm sorry?" I continued, not exactly sure what I was apologizing for. Upon receiving no reply and seeing the look on his face (as though I had personally injured him), I offered up the brownies my mom had sent me as a sort of peace offering.

"Thanks."

We fell silent. I dearly hoped that this wouldn't become some sort of pattern, or I was in for an incredibly monotonous life.

"I suppose you would like to know a bit about me."

I nodded in relief, grateful that he had broken the uncomfortable silence.

"I was born and in a small town in Kentucky where we stayed until I was seven, at which point we moved here. When I turned 15 I was sent back home to the community college there to continue my studies (I graduated high school early at age 14) and came back here for the summer so that I could meet you. I still have two years of college left but I'll finish them at the local college here so that we can, uh, startourlivestogether." He said that last bit really fast, as though he was ashamed of it and wanted to get it out as fast as possible. He soon continued his monologue, citing his many accomplishments, academic and otherwise. Due to the practiced nature of this speech, I allowed myself to tune out, rousing only when I heard my name being called out sharply.

"Isabella! Have you been listening at all?" He demanded, a stern look upon his face.

As it was the first emotion I had noticed on his features all day, I didn't mind so much.

"Yes," I said meekly in reply, lying through my teeth.

To my utter horror, he picked up where he left off. _Be careful what you wish for, indeed_. I thought to myself wryly as I reflected on my earlier desire for him to say anything at all. Finally, it stopped. He peered at my face as though trying to discern something, but apparently whatever he saw there displeased him for he promptly got up and proffered his hand for me to shake. It seemed as though he had already tired of me and was about to leave, something which concerned me greatly. I mean, yes, it hadn't gone so well and all but this was our first meeting! It was supposed to be special! From what I had heard from Alice, after her first meeting she had felt calm and at home and as though she was safe for the rest of her life.

Nonetheless, I shook his hand, too hurt and confused to protest.

"Shall I see you tomorrow? Same time and place?"

"Sure." I was not looking forward to it, but a small part of me was glad that he was at least willing to try again.

"Goodbye then."

"Goodbye."

He strode away, seemingly unmoved by our encounter. I waited patiently until I knew he was out of sight, then picked up my book and ran all the way home, tears coursing down my cheeks silently. My mother opened the door in alarm at the sight of me, but I ignored her worried protests and pushed past her, making for my room. Once there I collapsed on my bed in sobs, crying for the disastrous encounter, crying for his insensitivity, crying for his general boringness, and crying for my future.


End file.
